Today our group did a review on a story called "Examination Day". It's about a Boy called 'Dick' who is celebrating his 12th Birthday when his parents suddenly tell him about this Governmental Test he has to take that day. He keeps asking them about what the Examination would be about, but all they said is that it's an IQ Test to see how smart he is. A few hours later, he is brought to a room inside a Government Building and is sat in front of a high-technology machine which gives out all the questions. Hours later, his parents were informed of his execution due to his high IQ Level. The story ends there.
"Examination Day" has a really good twist in the ending that shocks and surprises us - I bet most of us didn't see the execution coming. Due to the somewhat scary close to this short story, I think it is considered in the suspense or thrill genre.
The story is set in a town where the Government takes control of everything and rules over the place. There are a lot of countries now which are in this state in the real world, but no such things as discrimination against gifted children. Also, according to the text, the people in the town have pretty poor lifestyles and the Jordans' house is really small. This may have been caused by the Government retrieving more than enough taxes from its people, or because there are no clever people in town to think of further economic development.
From today's group discussion, we decided that the most intriguing element of the story was: why is the Government doing this? Is it because they don't want people to take over control of the town? That's the answer we came up with after a thorough discussion, but it may not be right.
I would recommend this story to people who love suspense/thrill genre books. The realistic description of the tragical event, the horrifying twist at the ending... Fits perfectly into the category. A pretty easy read, grab a copy and start reading now!
Excellent YY!
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